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Selectmen’s Board Meeting
January 23, 2014
Present: John Allen, Chairman; Bob Thompson and Bill Lockard, Selectman
Visitors: Town Office Administrator Julie Atwell, Videographer Hank Benesh, Treasurer Warren Schomaker, Conservation Commission Chair Larry Seibert, Bea Davis, Gino Funicella, Kathleen Dougherty, Bill Wogisch, Holly Gaul
Chairman John Allen called the meeting to order at 4:30 p.m.
- Selectmen’s Meeting – January 9, 2014 The minutes were approved as written.
- Selectmen’s Work Session – January 9, 2014 The minutes were approved as written.
- Set time and date for business portion of Town Meeting There is a thirty-day window for setting this; the Board will set this after a review of the calendar.
- Fire Inspector Gaudreau to take on five remaining inspections from 2013 Selectman Lockard met with Inspector Gaudreau and he will coordinate the completion of these with Office Administrator Atwell. The new ones can go to MRI per previous discussion however Inspector Gaudreau might be willing to assist with new applications as well.
- Electioneering The election on January 21, 2014 went well; there has been no feedback regarding concerns or issues with electioneering.
- MRI – Building Inspection The MRI contract for building inspection services has been completed.
- Building Inspector Contract This is on the agenda under Old Business (7a).
- Building Inspection Invoice due dates The Building Inspector Contract includes invoices being submitted monthly; these will have to match up with inspection services provided.
- CPR Classes Office Administrator Atwell spoke with EMD/HO Tom Grieg about this; he has someone to do that training and it will be coordinated through the Office.
- Ad for Building Inspector This is currently running.
- Warrant Article Public Hearing The Hearing will be held on Tuesday February 11, 2014 at 3 p.m. Bea Davis asked why it’s not held at night; the Board is not opposed to a later time. Gino Funicella noted that over the last twenty-five years the budget and warrant hearings have been held at night to allow those who work to attend; it would be judicious to post the Hearing for 6 p.m. or later. The Board agreed to set the Warrant Article Public Hearing for Tuesday February 11, 2014 at 6 p.m.
- Public Comment Gino noted Selectman Lockard went on record as resigning; Gino would like to know if that is true. Selectman Lockard noted he was planning to clear this up today; he is withdrawing his resignation; he will be completing his term.
- Police Report
- False Alarm Fine Office Administrator Atwell will follow-up on this with Police Chief Meyers.
- Building Permit 2013000063 Map R08 Lot 11 – (Owner – Benesh) – Install new windows, new roof and additional kitchen cabinets
- Building Permit 2014000001 Map V02 Lot 10 – (Owner – Koeppel) – Pour 58 x 86 foundation
- Building Permit 2014000002 Map V02 Lot 10G – (Owner – Koeppel) – Building 14000 SF wing adding 9 rooms, kitchen, laundry, shop and offices
Chairman Allen noted these permits are being handled by Inspector Gaudreau and have been approved. Bill Wogisch asked what has happened with Fritz Koeppel’s applications; Fritz had expressed his concern that these needed to be approved in a timely manner. It was explained that items 5 b and c are Fritz’s and have been approved. Bill asked if there are any other applications outstanding. There were five; the approvals today represent three of those five; Selectman Thompson will talk with Dee to find out the status of her application; Office Administrator Atwell will follow-up on the fifth outstanding application.
- New Business There is no New Business.
- Old Business
- Building Inspector Contract There has been an enquiry about this position; the Board needs to determine if the Draft is to be finalized so she can forward it to those interested in the position. Selectman Thompson, seconded by Selectman Lockard, made a motion to accept the Memo of Understanding for Building Inspector Contract for the town of Jackson. The motion passed unanimously.
- Memo of Understanding Valley Vision Selectman Thompson got back in touch with Valley Vision; Earl Sires has been busy; he’s received and signed the MOU. Selectman Thompson spoke with Bill Edmunds from Valley Vision regarding time slots; the high demand time slots are 7 – 9 p.m.; the 9 p.m. to midnight slots are available all the time. The agreement is to show municipal meetings; the 7 – 9 p.m. slots are set aside as time for Fryeburg even though they aren’t regularly filling them; Earl is going to follow-up to see if Jackson can fix a set day for the 7 – 9 p.m. slot in the future. Tonight’s meeting will air at 5 p.m. on Sunday and by the next meeting Jackson should have a locked-in time. Bea would like to know how much all of this is going to
cost. Chairman Allen noted five-thousand dollars was initially approved at Town Meeting and another five-thousand dollars was added on the floor. The contract has a per meeting fee of twenty-five dollars if Jackson submits a broadcast-ready DVD; Hank will be charging fifty dollars per meeting to burn the DVD and drop it off at Valley Vision.
- Public Comment Larry would like to know how long folks have to get bids in for the Building Inspector position; Bill thinks it ran with a short notice. Larry has been contacted by two folks who applied in 2010 and didn’t think they were treated fairly. The Board asked Office Administrator Atwell to run the ad with a change in the end date to allow more time for responses.
Gino noted it appears that Andy Chalmers is no longer Jackson’s Building Inspector; he’d like to know if the Board has made any statement about this. The Board’s comments and Andy’s letter of resignation can be found in the minutes of January 9, 2014.
Gino would like to respond to the comment that was made regarding folks who applied for the Building Inspector position in 2010 and felt they were not treated fairly. Gino was on the Board when Andy was hired; it was important to hire someone that was familiar with Jackson. The options were one applicant from Haverhill, one local guy with no background and someone else from Vermont or the town could use MRI for sixty dollars an hour. Gino doesn’t remember anyone being treated unfairly.
Gino has heard that the town has changed its payroll service and is paying five-thousand dollars more. Office Administrator Atwell noted ADP is actually not more; Gino noted this, then, is a rumor; he thanked Office Administrator Atwell for clearing this up.
Bill asked if the Board intends to hire an individual for Building Inspection services and Chairman Allen affirmed that is the case; MRI will do them on an interim basis; this is a good time of year to be making this change as there aren’t so many inspections coming through. Bill noted Larry had commented about a couple people feeling they were not treated properly; he would like to know if any of those folks were the ones from Haverhill or Vermont. Larry noted he was stating his opinion; he shouldn’t have said anything; he thinks his concerns have been answered. Larry asked if the contract will be a public document; this was affirmed; he noted the Planning Board worked very hard to put that together and would like to see the result. Selectman Thompson noted the
Contract has been a Draft up until today’s approval; that’s why it has not been circulated; he assured Larry that much of the language was pulled from what the Planning Board put together and he’ll see that in the final document.
There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 4:52 p.m.
Respectfully submitted by:
Martha D. Tobin
Recording Secretary
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